Current garments designed to support a woman's breasts, such as brassieres (bras), swimsuits, tops with built-in supports and/or the like, utilize a combination of underwires, cups, and bands that can include straps to redirect the load from the weight of the breasts. The main function of such garments is to provide shape and support for the bust.
The underwire is a rigid structure that sits along the lower curvature of the breast where the breast meets the chest in the inframammary crease. The underwire is typically secured in a fabric pocket that connects to both the cup and the band. The cup is shaped to maintain the volume of the breast, and the band is designed to hold the entire bra up on the body. The band is attached along the outside edges of each underwire, which in turn is attached to the left/right edges of the cup and wraps around the side of the body, underneath the arm, and is either connected in back, or connected (around the back) to the other cup.
The underwire, cup, and band combination is used primarily to provide shape and support for the breasts. The straps are secured to the top of the cups and, when tensioned appropriately, help to maintain this shape and support. The shaping that the underwire provides acts to tension the cup to support the breast.
However, underwires and various other structures used by conventional garments to support the breasts, have proven insufficient to support and distribute the load of the breast and often cause immediate and/or long-term discomfort or pain.